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RTL Late Night: Police hacks are necessary

The whole society runs on internet

RTL Late Night: Police hacks are necessary

The proposed new ‘Computer crime III’ law may give Dutch police capabilities than ever. Fox-IT CEO Ronald Prins and Ancilla van de Leest, leader of the Dutch Pirate Party, took part in a debate on TV talk show RTL Late Night to discuss whether this law should be approved or not.

The Dutch House of Representatives discussed the upcoming law on Tuesday, 13 December. Several political parties oppose the law, because the police would be able to use weaknesses in current software to hack the computers of suspects. Ancilla van de Leest is one those opposed to this law: “This law does not provide more safety. If anything, it makes us less safe. Security professor Bart Jacobs has stated that if we allow the government to do this and broaden the scope of what the police is authorized to do, we could also let in malicious actors.”

Fox-IT CEO Ronald Prins disagrees. “We are not secure right now: it is impossible to apprehend foreign cyber criminals.” Cyber criminals can do almost anything, which allows them to stay ahead of law enforcement. “The criminals take the lead, while the police falls behind.” Prins emphasizes the importance of online security. “We are not just talking about petty fraud, this is about disruption of our society. The whole society depends on the internet: from road signs to shipping locks and power plants.” Even though we have not yet hacks seen on that scale, they have taken place elsewhere, says Prins. “And with what law enforcement is currently authorized to do, that chance of apprehending these hackers is virtually zero.”